Smoking Gun, Red Sand
by Xe7Cloud
Summary: Sakura is a retired bounty hunter that now owns a saloon. However, she is approached by her old friends Ino and Tenten to take one final job. Can she overcome her haunted past and claim the bounties of Kakuzu and Hidan? Read on to find out!
1. The Final Job

Sakura sighed as she restocked the shelves behind the bar. It was a bit after 2 o'clock in the morning. She had just closed up her saloon and began the arduous task of preparing it for the next day.

"Another tough day" she lamented to herself as she placed the various bottles in their respective positions.

Once she was finished with this task, she retrieved a white rag from beneath the counter. Now began the equally, if not more, arduous task of wiping the counter and all the tables in the entire saloon. She was very meticulous in her cleaning which made this particular chore very time consuming.

Sakura was about halfway through when she heard the saloon doors pushed open. She was facing the opposite direction but didn't bother to turn around. She figured it was just another drunk.

"Sorry but we're closed" Sakura stated almost robotically.

"Heh, can you really afford to be turning away customers?" a familiar voice asked.

Sakura stopped what she was doing and turned around. The voice belonged to her best friend Ino, as she had thought. And standing beside her was another of her friends, Tenten, who was giggling at Ino's joke. There was however, one other person with them, one who Sakura didn't know.

Sakura examined the mystery person carefully. She had blonde hair that was almost totally concealed under a black cowboy hat and blue eyes that studied the entire room carefully. Sakura's focus was then broken by Ino and Tenten as they approached her.

"How have you been? It's been a while since the three of us got together" Tenten began, placing her hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura gave a weak smile "Yeah it's been a long time hasn't it?"

"Too long" Ino interjected "But how's the saloon going? Getting any better?"

Sakura frowned "Unfortunately not. I'm just not getting as much patrons as I used to. I'm actually operating at a loss these days. If business doesn't pick up, I might have to sell this place"

"Really?! It's that bad?" Tenten questioned apologetically.

"Yeah and to make matters worse the mayor's going to raise property tax for business owners by 15% pretty soon. So the state of affairs is looking quite bleak" Sakura answered.

"Oh is that so?" Ino mumbled.

Sakura smirked "I know you guys didn't just come here to shoot the breeze with me. What is it that you guys, and your friend, want?"

Ino and Tenten looked at each other sheepishly.

"Straight to the point, as usual eh Sakura?" Tenten said smiling.

"Well you're right, we came here because we've got… a job" Ino said shakily as she took out some papers from her pocket and handed them to Sakura.

Sakura unfolded the crinkled papers, they were bounty posters of two criminals. She frowned and held out her hand with the bounty posters "Sorry guys I'm not interested. You know I'm not a bounty hunter anymore, I've retired"

"Yeah Sakura we were retired too. But things have been difficult, you know financially. So we talked it over and we decided to come out of retirement… just for one last job" Tenten explained almost hesitantly.

"You guys know full well that I completely gave up bounty hunting, ever since 'that day'" Sakura said, looking down dismally at the floor.

The moods of Sakura, Ino and Tenten all immediately changed at the mention of 'that day'. A feeling of gloom momentarily entered their hearts.

"I know Sakura, I know. We gave up bounty hunting too. But as we've come to realize it's the one thing that we're truly good at. That's why we've decided to come out of retirement for one last job" Ino explained "Take a look at the bounties on their heads"

Sakura had not actually looked at the amount of money being offered, she simply saw a bounty poster and refused their request. She reopened the posters begrudgingly. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the figures, it was the biggest set of bounties she had ever seen.

"No way, you got to be kidding me. Are these real?" Sakura asked in total shock.

"As real as you and I. 6 million dollars for this Kakuzu guy and 4 million for his partner Hidan" Ino answered.

"Apparently they're the leaders of some gang called 'The Immortals'" Tenten added.

"I-I don't know" Sakura stuttered to herself.

She truly did not know what to do. Her mind was going off in a million different directions. Should she take the job? She did in fact give up on being a bounty hunter. But this is just one, final mission right? Nothing too serious. What would happen to her saloon if she refused? Will she see bounties as big as these ever again? What to do?

"I don't think she would've minded" Ino whispered to her solemnly.

Sakura was silent for a couple of seconds until she let out a big sigh and finally agreed, almost begrudgingly "Alright, I'll do it"

Ino smiled and put out her hand "Alright then, let's shake on it"

They shook hands and therefore consolidated their deal.

"So are you going to introduce me to your friend?" Sakura finally asked.

"Oh yeah she's going to be-" Tenten was about to explain.

Sakura smirked "Yeah I know, she's going to be the fourth member"

"Uh yeah that's right. Her name's Temari" Tenten intorduced.

Temari was leaning up against the wall, her arms were crossed and all the while she tapped the floor with the tip of her boot. Upon hearing her name she pushed off the wall and approached Sakura to shake her hand. They exchanged a brief 'Hello' as they did so.

"So, can you shoot?" Sakura questioned.

"I can hit a barn door if the situation demands" she replied cheekily.

Sakura smirked at her answer "Alright that'll do"

Sakura didn't really like the idea of getting a new member. But there wasn't much of a choice, they used to be a four woman team until 'that day'. However those days were gone and the current situation demanded a fourth member.

Sakura walked to the bar and surveyed the display of alcohol for a suitable drink. She then gathered 4 glasses and brought everything to a table. Everyone gathered around.

"Alright let's commemorate this occasion with a drink" Sakura announced as she poured and distributed each of the glasses.

"What shall we toast to?" Tenten enquired.

"You guys know each other well, and I'm going to be travelling with you throughout this job. So how about we toast to a fruitful and long lasting friendship?" Temari suggested.

Ino lifted her glass and seconded the motion "Yeah friendship!"

Everyone followed suit and with a clink of their glasses their new team had been formed. They all downed their drink and set their glasses on the table.

"Alright, we plan to set off tomorrow morning. We don't want any sons of bitches stealing our kills so we'll meet up outside this saloon at 7am sharp. Catch whatever sleep you can, we want to use up as much daylight hours as possible. Comprende?" Ino explained.

Everyone nodded in agreement, it was already quite late, meaning sleep was relegated to only a few hours. They therefore decided to skip all the pleasantries and head home to rest up.

Sakura washed the glasses and put away the bottle of alcohol that was used, she then resumed cleaning the tables. She saw a very faint reflection of herself in the table that she was wiping, she stopped what she was doing and just stared at it.

Sakura looked at the white rag in her hand. She then threw it disdainfully into the corner of the room. Cleaning served no purpose. She was going to be a bounty hunter tomorrow. A bounty hunter for the first time since the incident. The incident that changed her life and ended life of her friend.

***Author's Notes***

I'm back and with a super cool new story no less! So yeah I'm also a huge fan of Westerns so I figured I'd do a Western fic. Pretty cool and unique huh?

I also decided to have the girls as the main characters this time because my last fic involved Naruto and Sasuke so it seemed like the next logical choice.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading! See you in the next one.

-Cloud


	2. Renowned

Sakura looked up at the clock in her bedroom, it was 10 minutes to 7. She had already prepared everything for her impending journey, her horse, her rations and water but most importantly her gun, which was sitting right beside her.

She picked it up and observed it keenly as she thought to herself "I never thought I would be using you again"

It was a double barrel shotgun, Sakura's weapon of choice. She carried it around menacingly in one hand, usually propped up against her shoulder as if it were a club. She was a feared gunslinger during her time as a bounty hunter, earning the moniker 'Smokin' Gun Sakura'.

Sakura stood up and stretched restlessly, she looked up at the clock once more, 9 minutes to 7 it read. She decided to wait outside, maybe time would pass by quicker if she did so. She gathered up her things and made for the exit.

Sakura was met by a familiar figure, it was Temari. She was sitting on the wooden railing surrounding the front of the saloon.

"Good morning" she began, tipping her hat to Sakura.

"Mornin'. How long have you been here?" Sakura replied, slightly surprised to see her.

Temari hopped off the rail in one quick motion "Oh I'd say I rode in just a couple of minutes ago" she said, pointing to her horse, which was right next to Sakura's horse.

"Ah well I'm sure Ino and Tenten will be here shortly. I rode with them for a number of years, they don't joke around, not when it comes to bounties" Sakura vouched, nodding in reminiscence as she spoke.

Temari moved closer to the pink haired girl "Ah that's right, you lot were in a gang. Ino told me a little about that. How come you guys retired so early? You look like you're around the same age as me"

"You're relatively new to bounty hunting aren't ya?" Sakura questioned.

"Um yeah, how did you know?" Temari replied.

"Look, let me just give you a piece of advice. You should not become a bounty hunter if you've got something to lose. That's what forced me to retire early" Sakura advised.

"Something to lose?" Temari repeated perplexedly "What do you mean? Like losing your life?"

Sakura frowned "Even worse than losing your own life"

"What can be worse than losing your own-" Temari was saying before she was interrupted by some familiar voices.

"Ah you're both here already!" Ino yelled, as she rode in alongside Tenten.

"Hope we didn't keep you guys waiting too long" Tenten added.

Sakura stepped forward to greet her two friends "Nah don't worry about it. In fact, by my estimation it's probably just about 7 on the dot"

Ino stopped her horse right in front of them "Well then are you two all set to go?"

"Uh yeah" Temari answered almost begrudgingly, still wanting to know what could possibly be worse than losing your own life.

Despite that Sakura and Temari got on their respective horses and joined the others. The four of them then rode out of town bound for Sierra Madre, a mountainous area where the immortals are said to inhabit.

***Many kilometres later***

They slowed their horses' galloping speed to give them a rest and so they trotted slowly alongside each other, Sakura broke the silence "I trust you know where we're going" she said, turning to Ino who was to her right.

"We're heading for the Sierra Madre Mountains. I'm sure you've heard of it. Anyways to get there we'll need to cross the vast sands of Sunagakure" Ino answered.

Tenten intervened "However we can't just sit back and enjoy the ride. The Immortal Gang have about 20 to 30 members recruited. They'll probably be roaming these lands so we'll have to be on our guards"

Sakura frowned "Seems a bit dangerous doesn't it? Just plunging into unfamiliar territory that's overrun with our enemies"

"That's where I come in. I'm originally from Suna. I know each individual grain of sand in this desert like the back of my hand" Temari interrupted.

Sakura looked over to her left at Temari "Ah that knowledge of the terrain will be invaluable. You're quite the asset aren't ya? Now all that's left" she paused "Is to see your skills with a gun"

Temari smirked and lowered her hand to her right holster, which was resting comfortably on her waist. She gripped the gun loosely and playfully tapped it with her finger. "Soon" she simply said.

Sakura was quite interested in seeing her abilities ever since their first meeting. Temari had 2 holsters on either side of her waist, leading Sakura to believe that she dual wields revolvers. Her wish would seemingly be granted as Ino commanded everyone to halt.

"Wait" she said in a hushed voice as she stuck out her arm indicating everyone else to stop.

Ino dismounted her horse and took a few creeping steps ahead. She removed her hat, got on her knees and bent her head down so that her ear was just slightly above the sandy ground below. She held her position there motionlessly for a couple of seconds, as if she were listening to the heartbeat of the earth.

"There were about 10 persons in that direction travelling on horseback" she announced, pointing eastward "However they all seemed to have stopped, to set up camp perhaps"

Temari gave her a confused look "How do you know that?"

"Oh it's a little tracking trick I picked up from an Indian who I once knew" Ino stated.

"That's quite the useful trick!" Temari remarked.

Ino smirked "Yup and that's how I gained the moniker Ino 'Radar' Yamanaka. There's no one that I can't track down"

"If those guys are members of The Immortals we can't just skip past them. We'll have to take 'em out" Sakura intervened "But wait how will we know if they're Immortals or not?"

"Don't worry we'll know 'em when we see 'em. The Immortals members wear red sashes as an identifying mark" Tenten answered.

Temari intervened "Well what are we waiting for? If we successfully take out those 10 guys we'll severely cripple the manpower of their gang!"

Temari was right and they did in fact take off in an eastward direction, led by Ino. As they progressed closer to their targets the landscape changed and became more rocky. Soon they started hearing the voices of the men, so they got off their horses and crept up stealthily, taking cover behind some rocks jutting out of the ground.

"Looks like you were right Ino. They did set up camp" Sakura whispered as she surveyed the landscape.

"…8…9…10 looks like you were on the money about the number of people as well" Tenten added.

Temari smirked "They may outnumber us but the landscape is on our side"

And she was right once more. The men had set up camp on a flat piece of land which was surrounded by rocky terrain. This provided the perfect opportunity for a surprise attack by the girls.

"Alright listen up" Sakura announced, as she picked up some rocks to use as props in her attack formation "Here's the plan"

…

"You guys got that?" Sakura asked as she looked around.

Everyone nodded and furtively made their way to their respective positions except Tenten who stayed put as she was already in her allocated position. She then reached for her rifle which she kept fixed diagonally on her back.

Tenten looked through the scope in her rifle and took aim. "Now I'll show you Immortals how I earned the moniker 'Hawkeye'" she smirked as she placed her finger on the trigger.

***Author's Notes***

Sorry if it seems like I'm kind of dragging my feet with this fic but my computer is acting up…so that's my excuse!

Anyway I didn't mention this at first but I expect this fic to be about 7-8 chapters long so it'll be another short one.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading!

-Cloud


	3. Tactics

Tenten looked around, everyone seemed to be in position so Sakura gave her the thumbs up. She surveyed each of the 10 men carefully through her scope. Most of them were either sitting around drinking or lying idly on the ground. There was however, this one man who stood by himself away from the rest. He was smoking a cigarette and his eyes searched the terrain meaningfully as if he expected trouble.

Tenten decided that it would be best to take him out first and so she took aim. She got her breathing under control and began to gently squeeze the trigger. Bang! She hit him! However just as she pulled the trigger, the man had moved slightly. Tenten took a quick glance of her former target to ensure he was dead, he laid there motionlessly on the ground.

The sound of the gunshot had caused absolute pandemonium among the rest of the men. They weren't exactly sure where the gunfire was coming from but they got out their guns and were shooting wildly in that general direction. A couple men ran towards their horses, which they kept on the far right hand side of their campsite.

Right on cue Sakura jumped out from her position and blasted one of them down with her shotgun. She locked eyes with the other man, who was fumbling with his holster to try and retrieve his gun. Sakura cocked her shotgun and shot him before he could even take aim.

The 7 remaining men saw Sakura, who took cover behind the rocks once more, and concentrated their firing upon her, effectively pinning her down. Tenten took this opportunity and shot down someone else from her vantage point. Then it was Temari's turn.

Temari was positioned directly opposite Sakura therefore she was able to shoot freely at the men, who were going after the pink haired girl, as their backs were turned to her. She sprang out into the open with a deft sideways roll and opened fire with her 2 revolvers, one in each hand.

"Shit! There's another one behind us!" a man yelled out.

This warning was however in vain as he got shot twice in the chest and plummeted to the ground. The fortunes of the five other men were no different. One, two, three bodies hit the floor as a result of Temari's onslaught of bullets. She pulled the triggers until she heard the clicks indicating no more bullets in the barrel and with that she performed another nimble sideways roll back behind cover. She was gone just as fast as she came in.

Sakura then picked up where Temari left off and shot down the penultimate member of the crew. Only one person remained and he was face to face with Sakura.

"So you're the last man standing eh?" she said, with her gun trained on him.

This was ironic because the young man was not on his feet but rather on his backside, quivering in fear. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran off, in the direction where he did not hear any shooting. Tenten and Temari sauntered out casually from their hiding spots and joined Sakura, who had walked out to the middle of the campsite. They all looked at the lad as he ran away for dear life.

He was about to make his way past the rocky exterior when he was grabbed by none other than Ino. She dispossessed him of his gun and pointed it at his head.

"Not so fast kid! We're not done with you yet" she declared as she led him back at gunpoint.

Once Ino rejoined her crew in the middle she sat him down on the ground "What's your name boy?" she enquired.

"Uh Billy, ma'am" he replied nervously.

Ino chuckled "Looks like we've caught Billy the Kid guys!"

They all snickered a bit before Tenten intervened "You know who that is don't ya boy?"

"Yeah I do, my nickname is actually 'the Kid'" he responded.

"Well ain't that nice! Do you also know that Billy the Kid died when he was 21?" Tenten said.

Billy gulped nervously. Sakura then interrupted "How old are you boy?"

"I'm 16 ma'am" he replied.

"16!" Sakura exclaimed "What the hell are you doing out here riding with a gang?! You should be in school!"

Temari intervened next "Does your momma know that you're out here riding with these guys?"

"Uh no ma'am, I ran away from home"

"Ran away from home!" she repeated angrily "Boy, I'm ready to smack you across the face"

Billy quivered in fear once more.

"Well Billy, the way I see it there are only 2 options. We could treat you as a kid who should be in school, or we could treat you as a gang member and shoot you right here, right now" Sakura declared "Which scenario do you prefer?"

"A-As a schoolkid" Billy whimpered.

Tenten pointed her gun at him "That's too bad Billy you ran away from home and joined the Immortals. We've got to treat you like a gang member"

Billy shut his eyes and yelled out "No please! I'll go back home to my momma and go to school like I'm supposed to. I don't even want to be a part of this gang anymore!"

"Oh is that so?" Tenten said, cocking her eyebrow "Well if that's the case, remove that red sash to renounce your membership"

Billy followed her orders and emphatically ripped off his sash and threw it to the ground.

"We'll be keeping your gun as you won't be needing it anymore. Also give me those" Temari said, pointing to the bullet belt draped over his shoulder.

Once again Billy complied and did exactly as she asked.

"Alright get up and get lost kid. You've got a second chance. Don't waste it" Temari advised.

Billy rose to his feet disconsolately and shuffled away slowly. Sakura yelled out as he was leaving "We might check up on you from time to time Billy. I hope you don't disappoint us"

"I won't!" he yelled back as he took off running.

Tenten laughed, returning her focus to her friends "I didn't expect to be giving life lessons here"

"Heh me neither, but I'm just thankful our plan worked out perfectly and we cleared this area without a hitch" Sakura stated.

"Wait a second" Ino interrupted, with a worried look on her face "The body count isn't adding up"

"Did you account for the fact that we let one of them go just now?" Temari questioned.

"Yeah I did. There should be nine bodies but I count eight" Ino said, looking around.

"Damn, she's right!" Sakura exclaimed after doing her own count.

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise, she ran over to the spot where she had shot the first gang member. It was as she had thought, there was blood but no corpse.

"Shit! Someone got away!" Tenten yelled in frustration.

The girls gathered around her. Tenten continued her explanation "I was aiming at one of them and just as I was about to pull the trigger, he moved slightly. He fell to the ground and didn't move, I was sure that bastard was dead. I guess he was just playing possum"

"Damn, this is bad! He's probably going to warn the rest of his gang about us" Temari speculated.

Ino placed her ear to the ground "I don't hear a damn thing"

"It's not surprising, I don't think he took a horse, we would've noticed if he did. He probably snuck off on foot when we weren't looking" Temari concluded.

"Alright it's getting late" Sakura declared, looking up at the sky "Let's get our things and get back to our horses. We'll carry out a search of the area to see if we can find him. If not we'll ride a good distance away from this place and make camp. We don't want to stay here and get caught with our pants around our ankles"

Their search proved a fruitless endeavour. They therefore rode a considerable distance before they deemed it fit to establish camp, their eyes open and alert to the looming threat of the Immortals.

***Author's Notes***

There's going to be a remake of the Magnificent 7! If you haven't seen it I would definitely recommend watching it. It's one of the best westerns of all time.

Anyways that's beside the point. This chapter was pretty action-y, definitely the most I've ever written. I think I handled it relatively well so I was happy with that.

Well I hope you enjoyed it. See you in the next one!

-Cloud


	4. Dream Eater

The girls sat around the campfire, reflecting upon their successful attack. They had just finished dinner and were looking at the starry sky above them.

"I still can't believe that worked out so well" Tenten blurted out.

"When they heard your gunfire it caused quite a panic. Naturally they ran for their horses to escape so that's why I positioned myself there. Then Temari blindsided them because she took up a good position directly opposite me" Sakura explained.

Ino chimed in, her voice muffled as she was still pecking at a small piece of bread "Yeah you guys didn't even need me, I wasn't required to fire a single shot!"

"Probably because we have a real deadly gunslinger among us" Sakura said, turning to Temari "You got four confirmed kills today right?"

Temari smiled at the praise she received "Yup four, not too shabby eh?"

"I'll say. Usually Sakura is the one who ends up with the most kills. The fact that you outgunned everyone back there, especially her, is quite the feat" Ino remarked.

Tenten then let out a big sigh "Damn it all! How could I have let that guy escape? I should've taken him down with my first shot!"

"You said he moved just as you took the shot right? If that was the case it wasn't really your fault, just bad luck" Temari reassured.

"She's right Tenten, forget about it. That guy escaping was completely and utterly meaningless. If he alerts the rest of his gang about us, big whoop. They were going to find out about us anyway, it doesn't change their fate" Sakura explained.

The girls decided to call it a night, they were all pretty tired after a long day of travelling and gunfighting. They determined that it would be best to sleep in shifts to keep watch for any Immortal members who may be prowling around. Temari had the first shift so she grabbed her guns and sat down with her back against some rocks. The others sprawled out on their makeshift beds around the fire and promptly went to sleep.

As the time passed by, Temari sat in complete silence. Everything around her seemed dead. There was a constant, gentle breeze that cooled down the land after it had been scorched by the sun. She looked around, everything seemed ghostly from the pale moonlight being cast on it. However, despite her eerie surroundings, there was neither sight nor sound of any intruders. She therefore finished her shift without any major problems.

Next up was Tenten's shift so Temari tiptoed over and gently shook her until she woke up. Tenten took a long and restless stretch before rubbing her eyes and looking up at Temari.

"Your shift's next" She whispered.

Tenten yawned and nodded as she made her way to the position that Temari, who was currently setting up her makeshift bed, had vacated. Tenten sat with her back resting on the wall as she fought off the desire to go back to sleep. As her shift progressed, it proved to be just as uneventful as the one that had preceded it.

Tenten was passing her time by looking up at the stars and trying to count just how many there were. Her focus was broken by the distant howl of a wolf. She then realized that she had forgotten to bring her rifle with her.

"Jeez that could've been potentially disastrous" she thought to herself as she went to retrieve it.

Her gun was around the campfire where the other girls were sleeping so she walked over there gingerly so as to not wake anyone up. When she got her gun and was walking back she realized that Temari was still wide awake.

"Hey what's wrong?" Tenten asked in a hushed voice.

Temari sat up and shrugged.

"You can trust us to keep watch if that's what's bothering you" Tenten whispered.

"Oh no, it's not that. I completely trust you guys. It's just that I have trouble sleeping sometimes" Temari replied.

Tenten was about to respond however she was interrupted by Sakura, who was still asleep. Sakura was tossing and turning, muttering, sweating profusely and wore a pained expression on her face while she slept.

Temari stared at her "It looks like she's having a nightmare. Should we wake her up?"

"Don't bother" Tenten sighed remorsefully "She's having that nightmare that she always has"

"She has a recurring nightmare?" Temari asked.

"Yeah, it happens so often that she told us don't even bother waking her up anymore" Tenten said.

"Did she ever tell you what the nightmare was about?" Temari questioned.

Tenten frowned and bent her head in sorrow.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that" Temari apologized, after recognizing that her question was a bit personal.

"Not a week goes by where she doesn't have that nightmare at least once" Tenten sighed deeply again "And it all started after that horrible day. The day that our friend, the fourth member of our gang was killed"

"Killed?!" Temari repeated in shock.

"Yeah, in Sakura's arms no less. It was very traumatic, especially for her. I suppose that's why she has this recurring nightmare" Tenten remarked dolefully.

"What was your friend's name?" Temari asked solemnly.

"Her name was Hinata" Tenten answered "Originally the gang consisted of just Sakura and Ino. Hina and I joined a bit later, but man, we sure had some great times. The four of us would just ride around for days chasing after bounties. Criminals didn't even know what had hit 'em. For so long, the four of us ruled these sands, we commanded respect and earned adoration" Tenten mused as if she was lost in a daydream, fighting back tears as she spoke.

Temari looked back at Sakura mournfully. She was still tossing and turning.

…

"Haha what do you mean you're going to retire?" Sakura chuckled.

"I mean I'm going to give up bounty hunting" Hinata responded.

Sakura laughed once more "I don't think you've got enough grey hair to qualify for retirement"

Hinata shoved her shoulder playfully "C'mon Sakura I'm serious"

"But why? We've got a good thing going on here" Sakura argued.

"Yeah I know, but I just feel that it's time to move on. I might open up my own saloon or something you know?" Hinata explained in her usual serene and gentle tone.

Sakura sighed "Aw alright Hina, it'll suck not having you around, however I respect your decision. But before you leave, how about we go for one last bounty, for old time's sake?"

"One last bounty? I don't know… Did you have someone in mind?" Hinata said hesitantly.

"Yeah some criminal named Sasori of the Red Sand. He's got a decent sized bounty on his head" Sakura replied.

Hinata chuckled "Alright, alright but this is my last bounty…ever…for real this time"

Everything faded into darkness and the scene switched to the confrontation with Sasori and his gang. Sakura and Hinata were taking cover behind some rocks, Ino and Tenten were in a more advanced position returning fire. The girls had decimated most of Sasori's gang but the remaining members were still putting up quite a fight.

"Shit! We're in a compromised position here" Sakura yelled over the incessant gunfire "We need to regroup with the others. Do you think we could make it over there safely? You know, without becoming Swiss cheese in the process"

Hinata shrugged "I guess we'll find out. I'll cover ya"

Sakura nodded and after a few deep breaths she sprinted off. Hinata popped up and provided cover fire shooting at anything and everything that moved. Sakura was about halfway to her destination when she heard a cry from behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked behind. It was Hinata, she was on the ground.

Sakura's eyes widened in horror, she ran back to her friend under a hail of gunfire. It was a miracle she wasn't hit herself.

"Don't be dead, don't be dead" was all that ran through her head.

She gathered up Hinata in her arms. Her face was pale, all the blood had seemingly left her body and was streaming through the wound in her stomach. Her clothes were almost completely dyed red. Sakura looked down at her, tears welling up in her eyes.

Hinata looked up at her friend and gave her a weak smile. "… Sakura" she whimpered. And that was it. She said nothing more.

Sakura called out to her, desperate for a response but none came. As she kneeled over Hinata's body weeping uncontrollably Sasori watched them from the distance. And with a sadistic smile he ordered his gang to retreat.

…

At that moment Sakura awoke from her nightmare. She glanced around, staying completely still. Ino and Temari were asleep next to her and Tenten was keeping watch in the distance. Sakura blinked her misty eyes to prevent any tears from falling, and went back to sleep.

***Author's Notes***

I think this is probably the saddest chapter I've written. I don't really do much character deaths in my fics but I think this one turned out alright.

Anyway sorry I'm updating so slowly but I've been reading this really cool book and that's taking up most of my free time.

This was a slightly longer chapter too so I really hope you guys enjoy!

-Cloud


End file.
